We follow the ‘Jolly Phonics’ scheme. This involves teaching sounds of letters with actions and songs. We then move on to learning how each letter is formed correctly. Letter formation practise is learnt in ‘letter families’ –

c, o, a, d, g

r, n, m, i, u, y

l, t, h, k, b, p

f, j, v, w, e, s

x, z, q

Blending for reading

Blending involves identifying the individual sounds in words and running them together to make the word. At school ‘Winston Wolf’ talks in ‘sound talk’ by sounding out to the children, for example, c-a-t.

When ‘sounding out’ words with digraphs (2 letters making one sound) children must remember to sound out the digraph, not the individual letters, for example, f-ee-t, sh-ee-p, s-w-i-ng, l-u-n-ch.

‘Tricky words’

The children know that some words can be ‘sounded out’ but others cannot. These are referred to as the ‘tricky words’ and they just have to be learnt through regular practise.

Segmenting for spelling

Segmenting involves being able to hear the individual sounds in words. This helps children with spelling words. This takes time and needs a lot of practise. Playing games such as I Spy and asking children what sounds they can hear in words helps with this.

The most frequently read words in the early reading stages are referred to as High Frequency words. The quicker the children learn to recognise these words, the easier reading will become.